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June 19, 2013

Peter Grier and Harry Bruinius: In the end, NSA might not need to snoop so secretly after all

Howard LaFranchi: Taliban peace talks hold glimmer of hope, but also unanswerable questions

Warren Richey: Supreme Court: For right to remain silent, a suspect must speak
Meredith Cohn: Leeches are making a comeback as medical helpers

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to pick the healthiest breakfast cereal

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: Spicy Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

June 17, 2013

Rabbi Simcha Weinstein: Black to the Future: American Apparel Gets Biblical

Patrik Jonsson: Minnesota Nazi: How did Nazi hunters miss Michael Karkoc?

Kate Irby, Ali Watkins, Trevor Graff and Kevin Thibodeaux: All the ways you're being watched
Don Lee: G-8 meeting will test NSA leaks' effect on U.S. influence

Patrik Jonsson: Fort Hood shooting: Judge nixes Nidal Hasan defense strategy. What now?

Stacey Burling: Why the stigma for migraine sufferers?

The Kosher Gourmet by Lisa Abraham: Does it work? 5 new kitchen gadgets put to the test

June 14, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget: Religious economics and being a ruler

John P. Martin: Hitler insider's missing diary found

Matt Pearce: NSA surveillance disclosure could affect court cases
Peter Tinti: US bounties changes strategy on (Wild, Wild) West African jihadis

Daniel Pendrick, M.D.: Memory loss? Old age may be the least of it

Lauren F. Friedman: But it's all natural! Should we have an instinctive preference for herbal remedies?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Streisand and Alicia Keys in Israel; "Girls" Stuff; Mel Brooks, Another TV special; Superman (who is Jewish) returns --- Israeli plays his mom

The Kosher Gourmet by Sharon K. Ghag : Bored with salad? Bling it up a bit (4 effortless recipes that will result in a 'WOW!')

June 12, 2013

Stephanie Hanes: Little girls or little women? The Disney princess effect

Fred Weir: In tweak to US, Russia would 'consider' asylum for Snowden

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: What's so special about Omega-3 supplements?
Morgan Housel: What newspapers were saying when you should have been buying

Pete Spotts: How cockroaches evolved so as to bypass 'roach motels'

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: Deep-dish cookie: Warm, gooey and a little over the top

June 10, 2013

Joseph A. Slobodzian: Faith healing and third degree murder: Thorny legal case
Lindsay Wise: Few options for online users to avoid spying, experts say

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: There are plenty of nutritional food bargains out there
Harvard Health Letters: Can bariatric surgery control diabetes?

Zach Murdock: Superglue helps doctors save infant's life

The Kosher Gourmet by Celebrated chef Mario Batali : As good as grilling gets: Rib eye with dry mushroom spice rub

June 7, 2013

Rabbi David Aaron: Beating jealousy

Caroline B. Glick: Wounded . . . and dangerous

Clifford D. May: Al Qaeda vs. Hezbollah
Harvard Health Letters: Fighting back against allergy season

Kimberly Lankford: Grandparents who use FSA to cover grandkid's braces and other must-know info

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom:J ewish Tony Nominees/Tony Awards; Jewish Teen Actor In Sci-Fi Flick; Jewish singer in "Voice" finals

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: A tart filling so good it might not make it to the crust

June 5, 2013

John Rosemond: Mom, Dad: Talk More and listen less

Kristen Chick: Egypt court sentences 43 pro-democracy workers to prison

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Mushrooms Have Medicinal As Well As Culinary Value
Morgan Housel: Why you never learn from your investment mistakes

Don Lee: In China, kindergarten rivalry takes deadly turn

The Kosher Gourmet by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan: 30-Minute Coq au Vin isn't a dream

June 3, 2013

Molly Hennessy-Fiske: Military judge to consider letting Fort Hood shooting defendant represent himself

Richard A. Serrano: Pvt. Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks trial also a test for government

Mark Trumbull: Have degree, driving cab: Nearly half of college grads are overqualified
Kim Lankford: What to do when long-term care insurance premiums rise

Deborah Netburn: Study: Adults' mouth bacteria may help babies

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Contestant on 'The Voice'; Will Smith's 'Jewish movie family'; Bravo Gives Long Island Jews the Jersey Shore Treatment; Magicians and More

The Kosher Gourmet by Bill Ward: How to be as refined as the wines at a wine tasting

May 29, 2013

Andrew Connelly and Helene Bienvenu: The Little Synagogue that Refused to Die

Dennis Prager: The 'Muslims-Killed-by-the-West' Lie

David Clark Scott: Open war on teachers?
Morgan Housel: If you know only five things about investing, make it these

Sara Reardon: AGenome detectives change the donation game

Deborah Netburn: A one-way ticket to Mars? 78,000-plus and counting apply by video

The Kosher Gourmet by Bev Bennett: CHEDDAR AND CHERRY MUFFINS --- your mouth is already watering

May 24, 2013

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: When I didn't so 'humbly disagree'

Caroline B. Glick: Thank you, Hafez al-Assad

Diana West: From the Brooklyn Bridge to London
Morgan Housel: Why spotting bubbles is so much harder than you think

Environmental Nutrition editors: NuVal labeling to the rescue?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Memorial Day: Jews Serving and KIA in War on Terror; Liberace Bio-Pic; Jew Wins "Survivor"; Shalom, Dr. Brothers; More

The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: HIDE THESE FROZEN TREATS FROM THE KIDDIES!: Sangria pops; Irish cream pudding pops; mango Lassi pops

May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting


Jewish World Review Oct. 31, 2006 / 9 Mar-Cheshvan, 5767

The absurdity of election time

By Kathryn Lopez


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | It's silly season — election time. It gets that way, of course, but it's still worth pointing out some of the more ridiculous examples.


One of the most important, but completely confusing, issues of the day involves embryonic stem cell research and cloning. This topic gets to the heart of who we are as a people and a culture.


Do Missourians want to not only green-light, but write into their state constitution, a right to human cloning? And do they want to do that without even knowing they are doing it?


Missouri's voters face Amendment 2, "The Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative," which asks them whether they want to "ban human cloning or attempted cloning." Hell yes, most might answer. But voting for the amendment, in truth, would create a constitutional right to human cloning. Folks differentiate between "reproductive cloning" and "therapeutic cloning" — the latter means you create embryos and destroy them before someone takes them home and names them. But make no mistake: It's cloning.


Very few people in the country were paying attention to Amendment 2 until about two weeks before the election. It was Michael J. Fox who got things rolling with some campaign commercials for Democrats. Fox, who heartbreakingly suffers from Parkinson's Disease, has long been an ardent supporter of embryonic stem cell research and cloning (though he won't use the c-word).


Shortly after the first of the Fox ads appeared during the World Series, in St. Louis, conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh attacked the ad for being misleading, which it was. In the ads Fox has made, he claims that President Bush and GOP Senate candidates Jim Talent and Michael Steele are against lifesaving research. That's not quite the case: What they oppose is federal funding of research that destroys embryos (and Bush has even compromised that principle just a bit to help on the middle-ground front). They do, in fact, support stem-cell research that does not destroy embryos.


These are important issues. But the media rushed to reduce them to a Rush vs. Fox smackdown. "What is going on here? Attacking Michael J. Fox?" ABC's Diane Sawyer indignantly asked Rush's fellow conservative talk-show host Sean Hannity. Looking to cause further trouble, a FoxNews.com item announced that "Not Everyone Loves Michael J. Fox," (is this headline about Fox a quote from foxnews.com? I couldn't find it) and explored the issue of whether actress Patricia Heaton's career would be jeopardized by her participation in an anti-cloning ad.


This particular media circus has been just one of a number of them this election cycle. For days on end, Republicans were blasted for being racist because of a silly ad they ran criticizing Tennessee Democrat Harold Ford for attending a Playboy party. In it, a white blonde woman with a come-hither look addresses Ford, "Call me." That, we were supposed to believe, is racist, because Ford is black and Republicans are counting on Tennesseans to feel racist horror at the idea of a white woman's interest in him.


To anyone living in the year 2006, this is a ridiculous claim. But Chris Matthews of MSNBC's "Hardball" made it all clear, shortly after a segment on the Tennessee ads. Matthews praised some ads of Maryland Republican Michael Steele, who is black. "I love the ads, my wife loves the ads, they're really funny, some of them. And very unthreatening. An African-American guy, it seems, has to run an ad that's so unthreatening that he's almost child-like in his presentation, but it seems to be working."


Uh, of the two — the anti-Ford ad and the weird Matthews comments — which sounds more racially condescending? Don't get me wrong, Matthews is no racist. But it just goes to illustrate that in a 24/7 election-season news cycle, with passions running high, it's often hard to stay focused on what's most important and to be as judicious in one's use of language as one ought to be.


But the good news is that silly season doesn't last forever. Whoever wins on Nov. 7, despite the Missouri decision we'll wake up the next morning still at war in Iraq, still at war against global terrorists — with hefty issues here and abroad to face. I'm still going to disagree with, say, Michael J. Fox, but all of us — mean-spirited "Fox-haters," nutty TV hosts, candidates from every party (including those, like Democrat Joe Lieberman who were forced to leave theirs) — will find we have a lot of work left to do, work we must do together.

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